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NEB has bigger problems

Sun., Sept. 11, 2016

Re: Time to earn public trust, Editorial Sept. 1

Re: Pipeline protesters delay Day 1 of hearings, Aug. 30

Time to earn public trust, Editorial Sept. 1

Your editorial makes the case that the NEB has squandered the trust given it and “torpedoed its own credibility.” No doubt you are correct that there is a need to “hit the reset button” on the pipeline review process. However, would the NEB be capable of doing that without legislative and policy direction from the government?

Jean Charest’s meeting with the NEB is a symptom of a far greater problem: the Harper government’s drastic rewriting of environmental law to give pipeline reviews clear sailing through the regulatory process.

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But there is another, even greater, problem revealed in your editorial: “no matter how much science is brought to bear . . . [some people] won’t accept any pipeline anywhere.”

You miss the point. Science is not being brought to bear. If it were, no new pipelines would be built.

Michael Hale, Chilliwack, B.C.

The NEB is supposed to base its decisions on the evidence in a transparent and disinterested way. This includes evidence around climate change. The NEB itself has said, “Publicly accessible information on the linkage between climate change and energy demand is an important input to the public discourse and will assist with evidence-based policy-making.”

Your premature conclusion that Energy East combines environmental responsibility with an Atlantic port for Alberta oil flies in the face of the dangers to the climate of ever-increasing fossil fuel production.

Now, more than ever, Canada needs a credible NEB that will look at all the evidence in its decision-making.

Doug Pritchard, Toronto

Pipeline protesters delay Day 1 of hearings, Aug. 30

Thank you to these brave protesters who put themselves at risk and were exposed to excessive force and police aggression. Thank you for helping to bring this message to the public across Canada.

As Montreal mayor Denis Coderre said, we need an approach of “zero tolerance” when it comes to safety and well being of land, air, and water. Climate change is already upon us. Spills like that in Saskatchewan a few weeks ago are nearly guaranteed with Energy East.

Canadian provincial politicians are saying no. Indigenous communities are saying no. Citizens across Canada are saying no. I say to the federal government and to the NEB, let us say no, let us protect the earth, let us live well, let us keep the oil in the ground!

To those who argue the need for jobs, I hear your argument. And I urge all levels of government to address it proactively and rapidly. Iron and Earth is a coalition of current and former tar sands workers advocating for reskilling and investment in green energy jobs. Others are advocating for a guaranteed annual income.

What is clear is that it is neither economically or environmentally or socially responsible to waste time, energy, and money on sinking further into the fossil fuel muck.

The Star and other mainstream media can help support this rapid change by engaging in a genuinely balanced, creative discussion of the paths forward into a transition where we treat the waters and land as if our lives depend on them, because they do.

Rebecca Weigand, Toronto

Enbridge aims to build a pipeline to carry North Dakota’s Bakken oil to Illinois. This struggle mirrors our Canadian efforts to stop pipelines and protect the environment. As the indigenous people fight to protect our water, why is the Star ignoring this crucial issue?

Kate Chung, Toronto

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